


Switched roles

by samothrace



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-16 02:16:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10561726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samothrace/pseuds/samothrace
Summary: Ellie and Hardy discuss their educational methods when she tells about him na incident involving a phone, a computer and a hammer. Set on 03x06





	

Ellie was furious. Besides having to work hard for a case that involved the safety of other women, she had to deal with the fear of failing as a mother. And to see Tom be like Joe. This was her worse nightmare. It was with great anger that she returned to the police station, interrogated another suspect beside Hardy, and felt all this rage accumulating more and more. She needed time.

  
The detective sat tiredly on the stairs in front of the station and watched the sun leaves the town, little by little. The light settled between the boats and shimmered in the water, and it seemed like an unreal scenario when she thought her days were only about the horror of this case. She missed the solitude with some light thought, but she could not remember the last time she had it, nor how it was possible to have it back.

  
Then she heard footsteps coming towards her. It was Hardy, walking with the same tiredness of the other days. He sat down beside her, and Ellie felt a little calmer. She sighed and asked him:

  
-How did you find me here?

  
Hardy gave a heavy sigh.

  
-I just figured it out. That you wanted some time.

  
-Yeah.

  
The two of them stared at the scenery before them, beginning to blend the orange with the cool blue of the night.

  
-Are you alright? Hardy asked, looking sideways.

  
-If smashing up a notebook and a cell phone with a hammer can define my mood as"well"... I don’t think so.

  
Hardy looked at her in confusion.

  
-Oh yes. Tom took his cell phone back, and downloaded more porn on the notebook. So I broke the two after dinner - Ellie looked at Alec to see his reaction, brows raised. Hardy seemed to doubt what had happened.

  
-You ... broke ... with a hammer? And I thought I should ask you for parenting advice. Shall I chase those boys who spread Daisy’s pictures with a hammer?

  
-It's very efficient ... and cathartic.

  
The two of them stared at each other and it was impossible not to laugh. It was a laugh of relief, perhaps because they had already forgotten how it was still possible. Ellie was also happy to note that this was the first time, in fact, that she saw Hardy laughing. The only time he had been that dinner at his house with Joe, but she had not paid much attention that time. Now she could see that his eyes were laughing, with frackles, and he looked so different from all that grumpy detective she was used to deal with every day.

  
-It is certainly a rare day. Destroying things with a hammer and seeing you laugh.

  
Alec tried to hide his laughter and raised his eyebrow, challenging her.

  
-But you're fine?

  
-Well ... maybe Tom thinks better of what he's doing now. But I feel so angry. I feel bad for feeling angry with my own son. For his attitude. And there's my father. He’s impossible, it makes everything worse. When I get home, it's not like I'm heading back to a place where I’can feel okay - Ellie looked down at the floor and sighed. She had not felt part of her own home in a long time. The sense of home had become too foggy - But before I forgot, Tom got the porn with Michael, Clive Lucas's son, the taxi driver.

  
Hardy looked thoughtful.

  
-That's something to think about. His alibi continues to have holes, he has a history of betrayal, very absent ...

Ellie nodded.

  
-And you, did you have dinner with Daisy? All right with her?

  
-Well, she's thinking of going back to Tess. I tried to convince her to stay, that it would be good to stop just chasing after me or Tess. To think about the future. I had to talk to her. I'm worried that all of this would affect her too much, that she would not know what to do - Alec had a lost and melancholy look, the same one that squeezed Ellie's heart when he said he had done his penance.

  
-Hm, you know she has a bit of you, don't you? Going from town to town? - Ellie smirked and Hardy blinked.

  
-Well, I'm here now, am I not?

  
-Yes, Broadchurch, the place you hate, but where you found your second chance - Ellie said it, repeating Hardy's words and laughing.

  
-Stop it, Miller!

  
-But I mean it. She has a lot of you. Your strength too. Stubbornness I hope she does not have that much - Ellie laughed fondly, noting that Hardy's response was one of the rare moments when he looked at her with timid sweetness - Yeah, Alec Hardy Full Dad. And I’m using hammers as an educational method. I think we've switched our roles today. If I seem to be too grumpy, microwaving tea or using a Scottish accent, let me know. It's to worry me.

  
Ellie got up laughing at Hardy, and they went back to the police station. Alec's silence always told her that things were going well between them. Though the world was falling down, Ellie knew that with Alec she had tremendous strength and the ability to hold the city in her hands.


End file.
